You say divided, I say diverse: Is Idle No More about factionalism or freedom?

As people frantically try to get a handle on the explosive, never-a-dull-day developments in Indian Country lately, one recent exchange in the media caught my attention: the battle to characterize and frame the semi-spontaneous events on the ground collectively known as ‘Idle No More.’ The exchange began when National Post columnist Andrew Coyne asserted the […]

Sihkos’ Story: Residential school remembrances of a little brown ‘white’ girl

Jane Glennon (Woodland Cree), B.A., B.S.W., M.S.W., is a retired social worker, counsellor and teacher who currently lives in Prince Albert, SK. A member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, her published work includes “Traditional Parenting,” a chapter in the book, As We See… Aboriginal Pedagogy (University of Saskatchewan Extension Press, 1998). = = = […]

Ghosts of Indigenous activism past, present, future: #IdleNoMore’s transformative potential

Earlier this week, from Goose Bay to Yellowknife, thousands of Nehiyaw, Dene, Metis peoples (joined by Canadians supportive of them) gathered in front of provincial legislatures, constituency and Aboriginal Affairs offices. They sang honour songs, danced jigs, and waved their flags and homemade protest signs out in the cold and the wind. This hash-tag movement […]

A Landscape of Beauty and Violence

The country is made up of a diverse and vast geographic regions. From the arctic, the Atlantic to Pacific ocean – one would agree there is magnificent beauty in every part of Turtle Island. That beauty only goes so far to those whose lives are marked by violence. They may see this landscape differently. But regardless of […]